Asylum Seekers: Children

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the asylum system on children's development.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: No formal assessment has been made of the impact the asylum system has on children's development. However, the UK Border Agency is fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in the UK under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009.
	Local authorities also have due regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of asylum-seeking children, offering the same level of support and protection as to children who are UK nationals.

Atos Healthcare

Lord Lipsey: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Freud on 26 November 2012 (Official Report, col. 3) that "the number of complaints against Atos is running at 0.57%, which compares, for example, with a figure of 3.5% for complaints about doctors to the General Medical Council", what was the basis for that comparison.

Lord Freud: As stated in my letter of 12 December, which has been placed in the Library, the figure of 0.57% relates to the number of complaints received by Atos, taken as a percentage of the total number of assessments carried out by Atos during that time. The GMC figure of 3.57% relates to the number of complaints made against doctors, specifically 8,781, against 245,903 doctors on the register. I am grateful for the opportunity to clarify the matter.

Electoral Registration

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government which bodies in (1) Wales, (2) Scotland, and (3) Northern Ireland, are responsible for ensuring that every eligible young person has the opportunity to register to vote in advance of elections and referendums.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Government, politicians, political parties, electoral administrators and others in society all have a role to play in encouraging people to register to vote. The UK Government set the overall policy framework for electoral registration and are committed to ensuring that it is as easy and convenient as possible for people to register to vote.
	In Great Britain, electoral registration officers in local authorities have specific duties to take all necessary steps to maintain the electoral register under Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (as amended). In Northern Ireland, registration is the responsibility of the Chief Electoral Officer, who is a statutory officeholder appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The registration objectives for the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland are set out in Section 10ZB of the Representation of the People Act 1983 (as amended). All electoral registration officers are also under a duty under Section 69 of the Electoral Administration Act 2006 to encourage participation by electors in the electoral process.
	The Electoral Commission also has a role in promoting registration, providing guidance to EROs on electoral administration, and providing a performance standards framework within which the performance of EROs in registering people can be assessed.

Employment: Parent Passports

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the viability of the parent passport concept, in the light of their planned legislation on parental leave.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The parent passport concept is a voluntary arrangement that aims to highlight the individual needs of parents, especially fathers, to employers, to ensure that parents are given the support and flexibility they need in order to manage the demands of parenting.
	The department has not considered this concept when developing the proposals for shared parental leave or the extension to the right to request flexible working. The introduction of shared parental leave aims to give eligible parents greater choice and flexibility over how they manage the childcare of a baby during the first months of its life. Extending the right to request flexible working aims to encourage all employees and employers to utilise the benefits that flexible working brings, both to the employee in balancing their work and private lives and the employer through increased staff productivity, reduced staff absence and reduced staff turnover.
	While the proposals on flexible working and shared parental leave have not been developed with this passport in mind, I think that a voluntary scheme such as this can only support the benefits that we intend to deliver through these policies, by encouraging open communication between employer and employee.

Employment: Religious Faith

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements are in place to monitor the adverse impact on people affected by any discriminatory employment practices of organisations with a declared religious ethos.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: Government collect data in relation to the number of claims which go through the employment tribunals. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is the relevant regulator and has the power to investigate if it believes there are particular issues with organisations with declared religious ethos.

Energy: Green Deal

Lord Vinson: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to include voltage optimisation in the Green Deal and other carbon dioxide and energy reduction schemes.

Baroness Verma: DECC has engaged closely with the voltage optimisation industry over recent months, and has commissioned the independent SAP Scientific Integrity Group, which reports to the government contractors working on the standard assessment procedure (SAP), to review evidence from industry and other sources on the efficacy of voltage optimisation as an energy-efficiency measure. We look forward to the views of the expert group to enable us to determine whether voltage optimisation is included as a measure in the Green Deal.

Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

Baroness Lister of Burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are yet to make a decision on an uprated level of asylum support under Sections 4 and 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 for the year 2012-13.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: There is no statutory obligation to carry out an annual review, or make an annual announcement. There are no current plans to change asylum support rates. However, we will continue to keep them under review.

Justice: Age of Criminal Responsibility

Lord Dholakia: To ask Her Majesty's Government what comparisons they have made between the age of criminal responsibility in the United Kingdom and that in each country of Europe.

Lord McNally: Many European countries have a higher minimum age of criminal responsibility than the UK. However, it can be misleading to make comparisons between countries as the youth justice systems and supporting social systems vary greatly across Europe. It is for individual countries to make a decision based on their own circumstances and procedures. We believe that the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales accurately reflects what is required by our justice system.

Public Sector: Procurement

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage government departments and agencies, and the wider public sector, to share services and procurement with local authorities.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: As part of the Civil Service Reform Plan, the Cabinet Office has been leading the implementation of the next generation shared services (NGSS) programme. The NGSS programme concentrates on central government, but we will commence dialogue with local authorities in due course.
	The Government Procurement Service (GPS) is also working with a number of buying organisations across the public sector to drive procurement savings and improve efficiency. It has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with local authority buying organisations.

UK Border Agency

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they are ensuring consistency of decision-making between the various regional offices of the UK Border Agency.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The UK Border Agency is ensuring the consistency of decision-making through the application of consistent rules, guidance and operational policy, enabling caseworkers and decision-makers to make clear, consistent and correct decisions. Adherence to these rules will be tested through an ongoing programme of assurance and compliance.

Visas

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) tier 4 (general), (2) tier 4 (child), (3) student visitor, (4) child visitor and (5) prospective student, visa applications have been outstanding for more than six months.

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: The number of applications unresolved for six months or more as at December 2012 are:
	
		
			 Endorsement Unresolved (more than 6 months) 192 
			 Tier 4 General 192 
			 Tier 4 (Child) 10 
			 Student Visitor 337 
			 Child Visitor 373 
			 Prospective Student 1 
		
	
	These data are based on internal UK Border Agency Management information, which is provisional and subject to change.